The Best Eats in the Big Easy

An Intro to Our Ratings

Before we dive into reviewing restaurants, we’d like to give a quick intro detailing how we’ll break down each review.

First, we’ll begin with a summary of our visit, going over our meal course by course. This will be followed by categorized evaluations of food, service, and atmosphere.

The food category is quite simple: Was it good or bad? Was it a good value? Would I go back? We’ll go into explanations of some dishes as well.

Service gets a bit trickier. First off, this category is not only a reflection on the front-of-house staff. For example, if it takes forever for food to reach the table, it’s highly likely that this is a kitchen issue rather than a mix-up with servers. But in this category, we’ll generally discuss whether we felt taken care of.

Atmosphere is one of the most underrated aspects of any restaurant. It’s the thing that everyone notices without thinking. A good atmosphere rating doesn’t necessarily mean that the restaurant has crystal chandeliers and fancy chairs, but a good atmosphere should fit within the tone of the establishment. We don’t want to see fluorescent lighting in a fine dining joint. We also don’t want to see white linen tablecloths at a diner.

Every so often, we may deviate from this template, but in general, this is how we’ll review restaurants.